Mayim Bialik & Jon Lovitz Schmooze On Stage

I was a guest at The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club last week. We did a vodcast (like a podcast but with video; I know, I didn’t know that expression either) for his “Lovitz or Leavitz” program. It is basically an hour-long interview where we talk about literally everything you can imagine, and we try and make it funny. Mostly we succeeded. Case in point: he kept teasing me that I was an African-American Jew which is only funny if you watch it and see why.

Anyway, I have been a fan of Jon Lovitz since I was a very young aspiring actress. I’m 37, and the years he was on Saturday Night Live (1985-1990) formed some of my earliest memories of understanding and appreciating comedy. His iconic voice is etched in my brain for so many of his well-known characters, and he was part of the Phil Hartman, Mike Myers, Kevin Nealon, Dana Carvey-era of some of SNL’s truly memorable comedy of my youth.

I like the opportunity to talk to people without a “time limit” like this. Jon is a very bright guy with a sincere interest in getting interesting conversations out of guests, and he had so many questions about Attachment Parenting and Neuroscience and how I make the decisions I do in life and so on.

It was a real honor to meet him and participate in this way! I am horrible at improv and Jon was a Groundling company member, which is one of the finest improvisational companies in the country, and we talked a lot about my fear of improv and why I don’t think what I do is as hard as what stand-ups or improv actors do. He showed me throughout the evening that I do have improvisational talent, but it’s my anxiety and fear that hold me back from doing it “for real.” That was a nice lesson to get from a real expert on the matter, so that was cool.

Here is a picture of us together in the green room, which was actually green.

Here is the link to the vodcast. It’s long but I actually think there are a lot of interesting things throughout so think of it like renting a movie for free where the only actors are me and Jon Lovitz sitting at a table and talking. And then we take questions from the audience, many about my work on “The Big Bang Theory.” So watch it. OK? OK.

Jon is a very interesting guy and it turns out he is from Los Angeles which I didn’t know. He looks a bit like my Dad’s side of the family and he’s a very heimishe guy; I could see sitting at a Passover seder with him as easily as I could see doing comedy with him. He has had a very interesting and long career and his Podcast studio is really neat; there are funding opportunities to support the establishment and development of a number of Podcast possibilities. Click here for more info.

Being a guest on Jon’s show was definitely outside of my comfort zone. It involved no format, no idea what he would or wouldn’t talk about (we ended up discussing everything from what is Prader-Willi Syndrome to why people hit their kids to myths about religion and science to why my kids are homeschooled). Plus, his club is at Universal Studios CityWalk, a notoriously crowded and very intimidating place (for me, since I hate crowds).

Going outside of my comfort zone turned out to be good last week. My publicist Heather Weiss (at Much & House PR) was very pleased with how candid and fun I came off, since sometimes people perceive me as cerebral and serious and not so much fun, and this is evidence that I can be fun. With a little nudging. And a little suspension of disbelief. And a little faith.

Check out The Jon Lovitz Comedy Club if you are ever in LA. He gets great comics and the place is really starting to expand in neat ways. Plus, laughing is good for you!

Mayim Bialik blogs about parenting and Judaism on Kveller. She is best known for her current role as Amy Farrah Fowler on CBS' The Big Bang Theory, as well as her lead role in the 1990s NBC sitcom Blossom. She is the grandchild of immigrants from Eastern Europe and the mother of two young boys. She is the founder of GrokNation.